Foreign stocks: Increased scepticism towards technology stocks

Super Micro: Share price falls after accusations

The shareholders of Super Micro Computer (<US86800U1043>) would probably have blindly signed up to such a sideways phase over the past few months. The company, which specialises in the construction of high-end servers, was long regarded as Nvidia's biggest competitor. Recently, however, negative headlines have dominated. At the end of August, short-seller Hindenburg Research warned of serious financial irregularities, dubious arms deals with Russia, difficulties with export controls and quality problems that would lead to the loss of orders from important customers.

Shortly afterwards, the Executive Board postponed the publication of the annual report, which is still not available today. For Torsten Tiedt from aktienfinder.net, the Super Micro share, which has fallen by over 60 per cent since February, is currently pure speculation despite its supposedly favourable valuation: ‘If Hindenburg Research's accusations disappear into thin air, the share will rise significantly. However, if the delayed annual report essentially confirms the allegations, the share price could fall just as sharply’.

Danger for Alphabet, opportunities at LVMH

The expert for quality stocks is also less confident about Google's parent company Alphabet (US02079K3059), which is also very actively traded by investors. He sees the threat to search engine dominance posed by artificial intelligence as particularly problematic. ‘If answers are no longer googled, the advertising business will collapse in the long term’. Tiedt describes this danger as ‘real’ with regard to user behaviour in his personal environment. He therefore believes that the ‘moderate valuation of the share’ with a P/E ratio on adjusted earnings of 20 is currently justified. ‘There is no reason to buy’.

In his opinion, the situation is different for the luxury group LVMH (FR0000121014), whose shares are currently ‘cheaper than they have been for over 2 years’ after a price drop of over 30 per cent since mid-March. ‘Parallel to the falling share price, the dividend yield has now risen to 2.2 per cent, compared to less than one per cent at the beginning of 2022. The P/E ratio of 20.6 also points to a favourable entry opportunity’. However, as the current weakness in consumption is likely to persist for some time, Tiedt believes it would be a good idea to buy an initial tranche first, followed by additional purchases if the share price continues to weaken.

Just a flash in the pan for Intel?

Intel shares (US4581401001) are back in the focus of many investors. The former leading chip manufacturer has clearly fallen behind other industry players in recent years. With drastic cost-cutting measures, including the planned construction of a factory in Magdeburg, the Management Board now wants to turn things around. At the same time, competitor Qualcomm is showing interest in a takeover of Intel. Although analysts consider the approval of such a deal to be unlikely, the share price, which had previously fallen significantly, was nevertheless able to benefit recently. On his homepage, Tiedt explains why he still sees Intel ‘on the decline’ and why he is staying away from the share. 

• aktienfinder.net 

explains.

Tech expert Stefan Waldhauser also fears that the current recovery in Intel shares is not sustainable. ‘The company's fundamental situation is precarious. Recently, investment plans had to be cut back due to the tense financial situation, although the former leading chip manufacturer is currently not technologically competitive’. In his opinion, the share price is ‘more likely to fall further in the medium term’.

Palantir with an ‘extremely high valuation’

The equity specialist, who has long been active in the software sector, is similarly pessimistic about the data analysis provider Palantir(US69608A1088), which is very popular with private investors. Its share price has just been driven to its highest level since the beginning of 2021 by its inclusion in the S&P 500. However, the ‘extremely high valuation’ bothers Waldhauser, as does the fact that the company's CEO Alexander Karp has recently taken profits and ‘sold his own shares on a large scale’. Why Palantir is fundamentally out of the question for him as an investment can be seen in a very recent analysis on 

• high-tech-investing.de 

From Thomas Koch, 26 September 2023, © Deutsche Börse

Tech expert Stefan Waldhauser also fears that the current recovery in Intel shares is not sustainable. ‘The company's fundamental situation is precarious. Recently, investment plans had to be cut back due to the tight financial situation, although the former leading chip manufacturer is currently not technologically competitive’. In his opinion, the share price is ‘more likely to fall further in the medium term’.

Palantir with an ‘extremely high valuation’

The equity specialist, who has long been active in the software sector, is similarly pessimistic about the data analysis provider Palantir(US69608A1088), which is very popular with private investors. Its share price has just been driven to its highest level since the beginning of 2021 by its inclusion in the S&P 500. However, the ‘extremely high valuation’ bothers Waldhauser, as does the fact that the company's CEO Alexander Karp has recently taken profits and ‘sold his own shares on a large scale’. Why Palantir is generally out of the question for him as an investment can be read in a very recent analysis on high-tech-investing.de.

From Thomas Koch, 26 September 2023, © Deutsche Börse

Palantir mit „extrem hoher Bewertung“

Ähnlich pessimistisch äußert sich der lange Zeit in der Softwarebranche aktive Aktienspezialist zu dem bei privaten Anlegerinnen und Anlegern sehr beliebten Datenanalyse-Anbieter Palantir(US69608A1088). Dessen Aktie wurde durch die Aufnahme in den S&P 500 gerade auf den höchsten Stand seit Anfang 2021 getrieben. Die „extrem hohe Bewertung“ stört Waldhauser aber ebenso wie die Tatsache, dass der Firmenlenker Alexander Karp zuletzt Gewinne mitgenommen und „im großen Stil eigene Aktien verkauft“ hat. Warum für ihn Palantir als Investment grundsätzlich nicht in Frage kommt, lässt sich in einer ganz aktuellen Analyse auf high-tech-investing.de nachlesen.

Von Thomas Koch, 26. September 2023, © Deutsche Börse